


Trial Period

by Space__Ace



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Multi, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Rilaya, Riley Matthews/Lucas Friar (mentioned), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space__Ace/pseuds/Space__Ace
Summary: After things between Riley and Lucas again don’t go the way either of them had hoped, Riley decides she’s done with romance and dating - for now. She focuses on school and maintaining happy and healthy friendships while she’s at it. They all decide instead of trying to be grown up, it’s time for them to really grow up.But when Riley thinks she’s all done, she decides that she’s ready to give love another chance. And who better to reintroduce her to that world than her very best friend? Maya offers Riley a ‘trial period’ of “dating” her to get her used to dating in the adult world. But as her trial nears expiration, Riley realises she wants the full product. But first, she still has some more growing left to do.





	1. Prologue

Riley slumped with a heavy sigh against the window. The coolness of the glass creeped through the fabric of her shirt, washing away all of the anger and hurt. She took a few deep breaths, letting a much needed calm wash over her.  
Her room was badly lit, like the dull, soft light of the moon’s surface. She didn’t care though. She didn’t feel like looking at the brightly glowing memories around her room.

Riley had always imagine she’d meet a perfect guy and fall in love with him straight away. He’d love her too and they’d be happy together, with no problems whatsoever. They would grow up together, get married, have kids, everything. It would be a fairy tale romance, one that was absolutely perfect.  
Riley cursed her parents for being such a perfect couple, who never seemed to have any issues. If they hadn’t been so perfect, maybe she would have grown up with a more realistic expectation of love. Not everyone could be a Cory and Topanga.

Her parents had already spent some time with her that evening, being there to let her cry about everything. She didn’t need them now, they’d already offered all the support they could for her right now.

Riley had thought Lucas would be her prince charming, the Topanga to her Cory. But it was proving to be a much harder and much longer journey to her happy ending than she had ever expected. She hadn’t anticipated the fights or falling out. She never thought she’d realise she wasn’t happy.   
From the moment Riley had laid eyes on him, she had thought Lucas was everything she needed. Was it supposed to hurt her so much? Could he really be ‘the one’ if she felt so uncomfortable dating him. When they were just friends, she was happy. She could talk to him, spend time with him, make jokes, everything. But when he was her boyfriend everything flipped on its head. She felt unhappy and uncomfortable, and constantly doubted every tiny maneuver in their relationship. She didn’t think that was how it was supposed to be. It didn’t make any sense. 

Riley tapped her finger against the soft cushion of the bay window seat. What was taking so long? Shouldn’t something have happened by now? She shouldn’t still be feeling this way.

A light tapping against the glass caught her attention, and Riley turned quickly. Kneeling outside her window was Maya, a small, sad smile on her face, and an expectant look in her eyes.  
Riley hurried to open the window, letting her in. The cool air swept into the room, still working to brush away her heated emotions.  
“You’re late-” Riley was immediately cut off, as the second Maya was through the window and on her feet, she latched onto Riley.  
Riley bit her lip softly, and wrapped her arms around the blonde. It didn’t take long until Riley finally let her walls break down. Silent silver tears began falling down her cheeks, as she clutched onto her best friend, hiding her face amongst the strands of gold. She let a soft, choked sob escaped. It wracked her whole body, but she didn’t care. She was with Maya now; her safe space.

Maya stroked her hair softly, and rocked her gently. She didn’t bother shushing her. It would be no use, she knew that.  
Besides, Riley deserved a chance to express her emotion. It wasn’t often she let herself cry. Whenever she did, Maya knew she really needed it.

“I’m here now, Peaches. I’m not goin’ anywhere.” she assured her. 

Riley’s grip on her tightened, and Maya held her together. Riley pulled away, and sniffed. Maya smiled up at her, silently assuring her that no matter what, things would be okay. She would be okay. Maya would make sure of that.

Riley moved away, and sat on her bed. Maya kicked off her boots before joining her. She held her arms out, and by nature Riley fell into her embrace. She curled up, breath shaking. Maya held her, stroking her arm softly. Riley listened in silence as Maya whispered promises to her. Promises that she would be okay, that she would always be there for her, that this wasn’t the end. None of those words really mattered to Riley. She already knew it all, Maya had already made those promises and proved she would keep them over the years they’d spent together. But she was thankful for her saying them at least. It was a reminder- not that Riley could ever forget.

She would never forget everything Maya was to her. Her one pillar of solidarity in the wild storm she was lost in. The ocean seemed endless and deadly, but her one chance at recovery stood strong amongst all that fought against it.

“Maya?” Riley whispered. Maya paused for a moment, before continuing to softly stroke Riley’s arm.

“Yeah Riles?” she asked, just as quietly.

“I think I’m done with dating for now,” Riley said. She didn’t look at her. She didn’t need to, she already knew how Maya would be looking at her. She heard Maya sigh softly.

“Well, I’ll still be here. I’ll always be here.”


	2. Chapter 1

2  
To anyone watching, the blonde girl leaning against the station wall would have looked normal. Indifferent. Calm. One might even say she looked like she didn’t care. For people who could only see the outside, you would have thought it was a pretty good guess. The girl was certainly working hard to keep the appearance up. She’d been working at it her whole life- she’d even say she was pretty good at it by now.

But on the inside, Maya Hart was running and shouting and bouncing. Cheering and skipping and grinning. Honestly, the way she really felt was something far more commonly associated with her best friend, Riley Matthews. It was ironic that it was that very same young woman causing these feelings within Maya. But, she was finally getting to see her after they had been separated by their first semester at college. Maya was ecstatic. She’d never let anyone see her the way she felt, she would never drop that “cool cat” facade. But she figured if she kept it inside, no one would know, and her image would remain intact.

Riley and Maya had been inseparable since the day Maya clambered through Riley’s window. To have to go to colleges so far apart (please note: this was not just far apart by Riley and Maya standards. Maya was still located in New York City, but Riley was attending a college in Chicago), and then to be kept apart by suddenly dramatically busy schedules was alien to the girls. No, not girls anymore. They were both nineteen now. They were young women now, all grown up. That’s what they liked to believe, at least.

Those young women were, however, having their beautiful reunion. Sure, it had only really been a few weeks since the semester started, and they had texted each other constantly, but they were excited to see each other in person again, finally.  
Riley was in her second year of college, having gone straight from high school to a degree in political science - with a bit of creative writing on the side. With an imagination so glorious and vivid as Riley’s, it was no wonder she had eventually found she had a knack for writing the most incredible stories. Maya was in her first year. She had been unable to get into her college of choice, which initially broke her surprisingly badly. Luckily, with the help of her friends, Maya was able to be fixed, and a year later she did make it into one of New York’s better art colleges. Not the best, but pretty good.

She knew he owed the Matthews family her life for promising to help her with paying for college.

But the only Matthews that mattered right now was Riley. Her sweet, beautiful, innocent, perfect best friend. Riley had flown in from Chicago, and was getting the train to meet with Maya. And finally, the train came roaring into the station. The howling hurricane it brought was nothing but a breath of fresh air to Maya, who suddenly found it much harder to contain those emotions as Riley stepped off of the train. Of course she was the first off. Her enchanting dark eyes fell upon Maya, and with suitcase in hand, Riley hurried towards her friend. She dropped her case as soon as she got close enough, and enveloped the blonde into a bone crushing hug.

“Maya!” Riley cheered. “I’ve missed you so much!”  
Maya chuckled softly. “Well ain’t that sweet.” she teased. Riley pulled away, and gave Maya a look. Not just any look, but that look. The one that got her to say almost anything.

“I suppose I missed you too.” Maya sighed, still smirking. Happy enough, Riley was all smiles again after that. She hugged her again, tightly, and released a happy sigh.

“We have so much to catch up on!” Riley declared, grabbing Maya’s hand. “Come on.”

Maya let Riley pull her along without argument, dragging her out of the station. She already knew the walk from this station to her home by heat, she didn’t even need to look at where she was going by this point. She didn’t, in fact. She kept her eyes on Maya as she chattered, still dragging her along. Maya may have trusted Riley more than anyone or anything in the world, and she may have known that Riley could handle herself (for the most part), but her lack of attention on the streets in front of them still caused concern to well up within Maya.

“Riles, you maybe wanna slow down a bit?” Maya chuckled, but it wasn’t quite enough to mask the apparent worry in her tone. Riley stopped, frozen for a moment. She looked Maya in the eye, and gave her the sweetest, most adorable smile.

“Maya, I appreciate the concern, but I’m a grown up now. I can look after myself, and I’ll be fine.” Riley said. Maya nodded once, showing she understood. Riley smiled proudly, and spun around to keep going.

Then she fell.

Maya couldn’t help but laugh as Riley blinked rapidly, processing what had just happened. She whined, before she stood herself up quickly and crossed her arms. She bit her cheek, but she could not hide the embarrassed blush that heated her cheeks up.

“Come on, Miss. Grownup, we should get back already.” Maya shook her head, bemused. Riley dusted herself, and gave a nod. She cheerfully linked her arm with Maya, and the two women continued on their way.

The familiar journey didn’t take long. They arrived at Cory and Topanga’s apartment within minutes. Riley may have moved to Chicago for college, but New York was still home for her, and boy was she glad to be home. Her home wasn’t just the building, or even the city. It was the people. Her family, her friends, and Maya. Riley wasn’t quite sure why Maya was her own aspect, but she didn’t care either. Maya was home, just like her family and other friends.  
It was home for Maya too. The Matthews- especially Riley- had given her the first real home she’d known, and then helped build one with her mother and Shawn.

Riley’s family were so happy to have her home. They let themselves into the apartment, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone. They’d been expecting them, but they were still excited to see the girls. Everyone gave them more hugs- none quite as nice as Riley’s, Maya noted- and spent hours catching up. They ate dinner, and laughed happily. They stayed up, still talking and showing their love for each other. Finally, Riley realised she was beginning to get tired, and still wanted a chance to talk to Maya properly in private. She had to tell her, and she wasn’t sure she could contain it for much longer. She convinced Maya they should turn in for the night, and then dragged her to her old room.

Even with their age now, they were quite happy to share a bed at their “sleepover”.

Riley made sure she had shut the door, then sat Maya down on her bed.

“I have an announcement!” Riley declared.

Maya raised an eyebrow. She leaned back on her palms giving Riley a curious once over. She wasn’t entirely sure what Riley was going to “announce”, and strangely she wasn’t giving off any kind of hints. Still, Maya took a deep breath, preparing herself. Riley took this as her sign to say it, and she burst into a bright grin. The beam on her face was one that could challenge the sun’s brightest burn- and maybe even win too.

“I want to start dating again!” she said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is late aaa???? I don't even have an excuse but here it is.

“I want to start dating again!” Riley said. As she did, her voice dropped and became slightly more serious, to show Maya she meant it. Maya on the other hand, had raised her eyebrows again.

“You want to date again?” she asked. Riley nodded. “Are you sure Riles? It’s been years since you tried, and it was so bad that it was the reason you gave love up for years.”  
Maya didn’t want to upset her friend, but she didn’t want to see her get hurt either. But Riley was sure. She wanted this. She’d had many years to grow, she was settled into college, she felt that she could handle it now. 

“It has been a long time, but I think I’m ready for it now,” Riley said, softly. “I’ve had time to really move on and get where I want to be. Why not now?”

“Well Riles it’s different. We’re older now, and the whole dating thing is different. Like, a lot different,” Maya said, standing up.

“I know,” Riley defended. 

Maya looked over Riley. Everything about her, from her stance, to her facial expression, to the glint in her eyes, told Maya she was serious. Maya’s eyes lingered over Riley’s. The steely grey sky of an oncoming storm met with the serene brown earth of a forest full of life. The sky could not bring itself to fight with the earth, and so darted down, backing off. Maya sighed. Riley smiled that sweet smile, the one that made Maya melt every time.

“Riles… you might feel ready, but how can you know you are? You know it’s different so, how do you know you’re ready?” she asked.

“Well, I’m ready to try at least! I’ll get into the swing of it eventually,” Riley said. 

Maya pursed her lips. She knew she shouldn’t be so protective of Riley, but she felt she couldn’t help it. There was a part of her- something inside her- that pushed for her to do everything she could to protect Riley no matter what. She figured it was the impression Riley had left on her. They’d been friends a long time, well over ten years, so it was no real surprise Riley and Maya had left some influence on each other. Maya was grateful for what Riley gave her, but she worried about what she’d done to Riley sometimes. Often she wondered if there were any way for her to do something better for Riley.

“Trying isn’t so easy though Riley, what if you get hurt again?” Maya frowned. She didn’t want her to lose faith in one of her dreams completely. She’d already let it go for a few years, but more hurt could have a much bigger effect on the happy young woman.

“Maya,” Riley sighed, but she was smiling. She took her hand gently. “I really appreciate you worrying about me, but I’ll be fine. It might take a while but I’ll get there.”

May bit her bottom lip, and lowered her eyes, away from Riley’s soft gaze. She sighed. This girl was going to be the death of her, she knew it. She didn’t think it was possible to die of sweetness, but now she knew that’s how Riley would kill her.

“How will you get into it though?” Maya asked, folding her arms. Riley shrugged.

“If I find the right people I’m sure that I can handle it,” she said.

“What if I’m the right person?” Maya burted out. She fought back against the heat burning her cheeks as Riley’s eyes widened.

“Maya, what-” Riley started, but Maya cut her off.

“I mean, we’ve known each other for years, I know I trust you, and I hope you trust me too. I don’t want you to get hurt again, so what if I… prepared you for the whole dating game?” Maya offered. “We wouldn’t really be dating, just… pretending? You know, like a trial period, just to get you used to it again.” 

Riley was staring at the floor, blushing. Maya bit the inside of her cheek, and her stomach tightened as she began to worry maybe she’d overstepped the line. She was about to apologize and exit stage-window, but Riley spoke up.

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm moving my update day to Saturday. It gives me more time in the day to make sure everything is written and then edited. And besides, the last chapter came out late anway.

Maya’s eyes widened. For a moment she couldn’t entirely believe that Riley had agreed. It was crazy. It was a crazy idea. She didn’t even know why she had suggested it. But what was even crazier was Riley agreeing. Maya couldn’t fathom why she would agree to such an idea.

But here she was, smiling so sweetly before her. That sweet smile faltered for a brief moment, as Riley became less confident in the face of Maya’s silence.

“Really?” Maya spoke up, suddenly- but softly.

“Of course! I trust you, and you’re a hard-headed, street smart, confident woman,” Riley grinned. Maya’s expression softened, flattered by Riley’s words and faith. The wish to really help her strengthened, now that Riley had said that.

“Alright. We’re dating then,” Maya fought back a smile and ignored the way her heart fluttered as she said it, “But if at any point this gets too weird for you, I won’t be mad or upset or anything if you want to back out. I don’t mind.”  
Riley smiled softly.

“I know,” she said. “I know you’d never force me into anything at all, no matter what it was.”

“So anyway, where do we begin?” Riley asked her. Maya shrugged.

“Uh, I guess we could go out to dinner tonight?” the blonde suggested. Riley’s eyes lit up for a moment, but then she frowned and withdrew.

“Not tonight, we already had dinner,” Riley reminded her, adding a pointed glance at the clock as well.

“Tomorrow then? Just us,” Maya said. Riley smiled.

“That sounds like a perfect plan! But before will you show me what kind of things to wear and tell me what to do?” Riley said. Maya opened her mouth to say something, then paused, rethinking her words.

“Yeah, sure,” she shrugged. Riley grinned.

“Yay! Oh thank you Maya, this is going to be great!” she cheered, doing a little happy dance. Maya chuckled and smiled warmly.

“That’s what friends do,” Maya shrugged. Riley paused and snorted.

“Date? I don’t know, I’m not too sure they do,” she smirked. The anxious expression that briefly flashed over Maya’s face was too quick for the smug looking Riley to notice.  
“You’ve dated friends before,” Maya retorted. Riley tried to argue, but could find nothing to use against her. Maya was right. She and Lucas had been incredibly close friends for a long time before anything happened between them, and even after their… rather messy ending to their romantic relationship, they eventually warmed to being friends again. Riley had made sure of it. And of course, since it was Riley, she managed to get them back to being good friends. Although he never replaced Maya. He never would- he never could. No one could. 

After all, who else would offer to tutor Riley in dating by going on practical date lessons with her?

“Anyway!” Riley declared. “Tomorrow night, dinner, where?”

Maya hummed in thought, then smirked. “It’s a surprise,” she said. Riley whined.

“You’ll like it,” Maya promised. Riley huffed, but didn’t push her friend too far to try and reveal more.

Could she still say friend? Or should she say girlfriend now? Riley chose not to. After all, they hadn’t been on their first date yet, and even so it wasn’t going to be a real date. It wasn’t real.

 

“At least tell me how fancy it is so I know how I should dress,” Riley sighed.

“Mmmnope, you can figure that out tomorrow,” Maya smirked. Riley pursed her lips, but couldn’t keep up the sour expression with how proud and happy Maya looked. Riley’s face fell into her natural soft smile.

“Anyway, we should actually get to bed now, if anyone hears us talking they’ll wonder why we haven’t gone to bed yet when we said we were,” Riley said. Maya sighed, but at the same time welcomed the idea of rest. As much as she wanted to talk more with Riley, the whirlwind had wiped her out, and she needed to recover.

They got ready, both called a final goodnight to Cory and Topanga, then curled up in bed. They talked in hushed, soft voices for some time more- they weren’t sure how long- until Maya finally began drifting off. Riley smiled as she watched her friend’ eyes fall shut.

“Goodnight, Maya.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> please don't ask me why i've been gone i genuinely feel terrible about this but i have no excuse

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”

That was the end of it, and the beginning. The conversation wrapped up there. Riley and Maya shook hands, making it a deal. They didn't stay up much longer, and Riley was the first to fall asleep. Maya lay there, half listening to the sound of Riley's shallow breathing. The memory of what she had said- of what they had _both_ said. She sighed, dropping her head onto the pillow and letting her eyes fall shut. She couldn't let herself think about this. She wouldn't! It was nothing. It was just her and her friend messing around, it wasn't big deal. 

But it was a bad idea. Maya didn't know why she had ever suggested it! Even if she thought she was okay now, she shouldn't have risked it. But she knew she wasn't okay. Maya sighed, pressing her hand over her eyes. She was supposed to be over this. She had just been a kid. A stupid child- a teenager- it hadn't meant anything. How could she have felt that way when she was younger. She took another deep breath.

She needed to stop thinking about this. She opened her eyes and looked to the clock beside her. 1:24 a.m. She sighed again, and shook her head.

"I just need to sleep," she whispered under her breath. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She wasn't sure how long it was until she finally did fall asleep, but she knew when Riley woke her up in the morning it was far too early, and she'd had far too little sleep.

"Rise and Shine!" the brunette sang. Maya groaned, and pulled the blankets over her head, rolling over.

"Come on Maya, we've got so much to do!"

Maya sighed. "What time is it?" she groaned.

"Eight," Riley said. Maya pulled the duvet off of her, and glared at her friend, while trying not to react to just how close Riley was.

"You remember that story- Sleeping Beauty?" Maya asked.

"Uh huh," Riley grinned at her.

"You could learn something from that," Maya commented. Riley frowned.

"It's not that early, Maya! And- you don't think I'm a beauty?" she asked. Maya frowned, and sighed.

"Riles, no that's- you know what I mean," Maya said. Riley smiled softly.

"Yeah, I know," She said. "Now come on, get up!"

 

Maya was not happy about it- but she allowed herself to be dragged out of bed. That didn't mean she didn't complain about it.

"Shush! The whole building does not need to know that you're awake now," Riley said.

"The rest of the building wouldn't know; they're all still asleep!" Maya threw her arms in the air. Riley snorted, and skipped out of her bedroom. Maya followed, a lot less cheerily, mind you.

Maya forgot for a brief moment that morning that Riley was a Matthews. And if _Riley_ Matthews got up at what Maya considered an ungodly hour of the morning, then it meant the other Matthews were up too. Corey was at the counter, serving omlettes onto plates. Topanga looked up, and smiled.

"Morning girls," she said. Riley replied with an echo of Topanga's first word, Maya simply grunted.

"Still not a morning person?" Corey asked Maya, setting the plates down in front of each person. Maya shook her head.

She could barely convince herself to get up in the mornings to go to early classes. It was a blessing whenever she could sleep in. And she was on vacation now, she was supposed to be able to sleep in all she wanted. Riley, apparently, thought otherwise.

"So, now that the Dynamic Duo is back together again, what are you going to do with your vacation?" Topanga asked, after thanking her husband for breakfast as he set her plate down, then sat down beside her.

"Maya has a plan for us," Riley grinned mischeviously. Maya felt herself tense up, but she forced herself to relax. All those years and she still inisted on keeping up her image, even in front of people she considered family. Although she did feel strangely proud when Corey muttered an 'uh oh' in response to Riley's reveal.

"Don't worry Matthews, I'll look after her," Maya smirked. Corey raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to tell us what this plan is?" He asked. Riley giggled.

"Don't worry," she said.

"Now you see saying that makes me worry more."

 

Before they could get starte with their 'trial period', there were some things the girls wanted to get out of the way first. Namely, reuniting their whole group again. Riley had already made arrangements with everyone- Farkle, Smackle, Zay, even Lucas. Maya couldn't say she was surprised. Even if Riley and Lucas hadn't worked out the way either of them wished, they ended up still being friends- and much better friends than they were a couple. At least Maya thought so.

Speaking of which, Maya was sat on the couch, waiting for Riley to reappear. She'd gone into her room to get ready after Maya had finished dressing. Maya sighed, and let her head fall against the back of the couch. She was about to shout for Riley to ask how much longer she would be, when Riley beat her to it.

"Alright, I'm ready!" she called, hurrying through. Maya sighed, standing up and turning to face her.

" _Finally_ , God, you were in there for ages," Maya said. She stopped when she saw Riley. She looked- Maya couldn't really put it into words.

She looked like Riley. Her outfit wasn't particularly unusual- for Riley. She stood out no more than she usually would. But she was _Riley_. Her eyes were alight, as if bright stars had fallen to the earth and buried them beneath just beneath the surface of the forest floor. The grin on her face lit up the state! Maya often wondered if Riley was made of pure sunlight. This was one of those times. Her smile certainly was. That, Maya was certain of. How else could she smile so beautifully?

"Ready to go?"

Maya blinked, almost rapidly. Riley tilted her head, innocently. The simple gesture brought a warm smile to Maya's face.

"Sure," Maya shrugged. Riley grinned, and linked their arms, skipping them both out of the door.


End file.
